This invention relates to a food package including a tray and a sleeve surrounding the tray.
Packaged foods, such as frozen pizzas, are sold extensively throughout the United States and the world. These packaged foods offer the consumer a convenient and a sometimes inexpensive alternative to preparing foods from "scratch". Increasingly, packaged foods are becoming microwavable. Many times, however, the food product must be removed from the food package and placed in a separate receptacle for heating in the microwave.
In order to avoid this extra step, ovenable food packages have been developed. For example, it is known to provide a package consisting of a box which contains a frozen pizza. In use, the box is opened and placed in the microwave oven along with the pizza and then subjected to microwave energy.
There are several problems with current ovenable food packages. For microwavable food packages, if the package rests on the microwave oven floor, a heat sink is created which leads to non-uniform heating of the food product. This non-uniform heating causes "cold spots" in the food product. In addition, paperboard materials which are used for the food packages tend to lose their stiffness and rigidity upon heating. This is because the paperboard has a moisture content which is vaporized by the microwave heating. Because of this loss of stiffness, more "heat sinking" can occur and in addition, after removing the package from the microwave oven, the food product is not well supported by the package, thus making it harder to carry the food product in the package.
My U.S. Pat. No. 5,565,228, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, discloses a food product tray including a base defining an opening. A floor member having a portion secured to the base substantially directly supports the food product in the tray. The floor member, preferably, includes a microwave susceptor material.
While my tray meets many of the needs lacking in prior art trays, there is still a need for an economical, easy to use food package that can efficiently and effectively be used to heat a food product.